Daily brief
Automotive & Business Brief — 28 October 2026
Mercedes cut its car margin target to 2–3% after a 2.5% Q3, and Stellantis posted a 0.7% margin with Europe negative and a €453m loss; both flag rising material and chip costs.
Executive Snapshot
- Mercedes cut its car margin target to 2–3% after a 2.5% Q3, and Stellantis posted a 0.7% margin with Europe negative and a €453m loss; both flag rising material and chip costs.
Top Developments
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Mercedes-Benz cuts its 2026 car margin target to 2–3% after a weak Q3, blaming China and higher material costs in Q4
Asia
In an ad hoc release on 27 Oct, Mercedes lowered the Cars adjusted return on sales for 2026 to 2–3% (from 3–5%) and now expects group EBIT around last year’s level, with free cash flow significantly lower. Q3 results on 28 Oct: revenue €30.7bn, group adjusted EBIT €1.78bn (−15%), net profit €1.52bn. Mercedes-Benz Cars made adjusted EBIT of €560m, a 2.5% return on sales (about half of last year); Vans held 9.4%. Car sales fell 8% to 407,232, with China weak while Europe rose 5% (Germany +13%) and the US +6%. Battery-electric sales hit a record (+61%, 16.8% share). About €1.1bn of restructuring cash, mostly German severance, went out in the quarter. The shares fell about 5% on the warning.
Companies Mercedes-Benz
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Stellantis Q3: revenue up 1% but a €453m net loss, a 0.7% operating margin and Europe the only region with a negative margin
Europe
Stellantis reported on 28 Oct Q3 revenue of €37.6bn (+1%): Enlarged Europe +3%, North America −3%, Middle East & Africa −19%. Adjusted operating income was €256m (0.7% margin), with the Enlarged Europe margin down 340 basis points and negative. Net loss was €453m and industrial free cash flow −€4.0bn. Full-year guidance stays, with positive free cash flow targeted for 2027. For Q4, Stellantis flags extra costs from memory chips and recalls, expects savings in the mid-hundreds of millions of euros from its cost programme, and puts net tariff costs at about €1.0bn for the year. EU30 share is 14.8% (vans 26.9%); BEV passenger cars rose 65% and Leapmotor sales nearly quadrupled.
Companies Stellantis, Leapmotor
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German metal pay talks: employers offer +1.3% from July 2028 and a 1% one-off in 2027; IG Metall rejects it and warning strikes are possible from 1 November
Europe
In the second round on 27 Oct, employers in five regions made a joint offer: a 1% one-off payment in July 2027 that weaker companies can skip, a 1.3% rise in pay tables from 1 July 2028, and a 26-month term to the end of 2028. They want company-level opt-outs agreed with works councils, plus talks on sick leave and AI. IG Metall is asking for 5% over 12 months, calls the offer a real-terms pay cut and says warning strikes can start once the peace obligation ends on 1 November.
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Japan pushes back on EU ‘Made in Europe’ EV rules; trade minister Akazawa raises it with Chancellor Merz in Tokyo today
Europe
NHK reported on 28 Oct that EU member states are working towards a deal, possibly next month, under which only EVs and plug-in hybrids assembled in the EU, with a minimum share of EU component value, would qualify for subsidies and public procurement. Japan-built and other non-EU-built models would likely miss out: Toyota exports EVs from Japan and builds plug-in hybrids in Türkiye, Suzuki ships India-built EVs, and Nissan builds EVs in the UK. Toyota Europe has asked for ‘trusted partners’ such as Japan to be included. Reuters reported that METI minister Ryosei Akazawa will raise Japan’s concerns with Chancellor Merz in Tokyo on 28 Oct and wants Japanese products treated the same as EU ones.
Companies Toyota, Suzuki, Nissan
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Great Wall Motor will build the Ora 5 in Bulgaria from Q1 2027, its first European production; Chery wants 70% of its export cars built abroad by 2030
Europe
Reuters reported on 27 Oct that GWM will contract-manufacture the Ora 5 compact SUV with a local partner, Bulgarian Automotive Industry, at a plant near Lovech designed for up to 50,000 vehicles a year, from Q1 2027. GWM targets 300,000 units of European production by 2029 and plans industrial parks that include component suppliers; its EU anti-subsidy duty on China-built EVs is 20.7%. Separately, Chery said on 27 Oct that at least 50% of the cars it sells abroad will be built outside China by the end of 2026 (about 48% so far), rising to 60% in 2027 and 70% by 2030, with European output from Nissan’s former Barcelona plant starting pre-series by year-end.
Companies Great Wall Motor, Chery, Nissan
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Connector maker HARTING exits its combustion-engine solenoid business and moves some functions from Germany to Romania
Europe
HARTING announced on 27 Oct that its Automotive division will stop the ICE solenoid business (last deliveries in June 2027, closure by the end of 2027) and focus on EV charging equipment. Some functions move from Germany to Romania, and about 47 jobs in Germany are affected. The CEO cites strong Asian competition and cost pressure.
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NXP Q3: automotive revenue passes $2bn for the first time (+13%); Q4 guided higher and channel inventory is still lean
Global
NXP reported on 27 Oct Q3 revenue of $3.79bn (+19% year on year). Automotive revenue was $2.07bn, up 13% year on year and 7% on the quarter. The Q4 revenue guidance midpoint is $3.85bn, channel inventory is at 11 weeks, and NXP announced a new $5bn buyback. On the call, management linked auto demand to growing electronics content in software-defined vehicles.
Companies NXP
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Nexperia’s Q3 revenue grows 9% on the quarter as it ramps back-end capacity in Malaysia and the Philippines, but its China units still operate outside its control
Asia
Nexperia reported on 26 Oct Q3 revenue of $389m, up 9.3% from Q2, and cash of $446m. It says about 55 billion pieces a year of back-end capacity is now installed in Malaysia and the Philippines, with over 6,200 product types released and shipping, plus partnerships with Tata Electronics and Polar Semiconductor. The interim CEO says Nexperia China is still operating outside the group’s governance, and Nexperia expects revenue growth to strengthen further.
Companies Nexperia
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GM turns to hybrids: hybrid Traverse, Enclave and Acadia planned at Lansing, with a $500m US grant moved from EVs to hybrids
Americas
Reuters reported on 27 Oct that GM plans hybrid versions of its three large crossovers at the Lansing Delta Township plant. GM confirmed the investment, and the US Department of Energy is redirecting a $500m grant from EV to hybrid production. GM’s US market share fell to 16.6% from 17.4%, adding pressure to fill the gap left by weaker EV demand.
Companies General Motors
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Memory chips are becoming a car-cost problem: SK hynix expects shortages through 2030 and has sold over half of its 2027–28 output under long-term deals
Global
SK hynix reported record Q3 results on 28 Oct: revenue of 104.6 trillion won (+32% on the quarter) and an 80% operating margin, driven by AI data-centre memory. It expects demand to exceed supply through 2030 and has long-term agreements with 14 major customers covering more than half of its 2027–2028 capacity, mostly cloud providers. Stellantis flagged memory-chip cost as a Q4 headwind the same day, and Digitimes reported on 27 Oct that carmakers are moving to direct sourcing and long-term deals because AI demand is squeezing automotive memory.
Companies Stellantis
Earnings Calendar
| Date | Company | Event | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| AmphenolElectronics | Amphenol Q3 | before the US open, call 14:30 CET | |
| TE ConnectivityElectronics | TE Connectivity fiscal Q4 | before the US open, call 14:30 CET | |
| Hyundai MotorOEM | Hyundai Motor Q3 | ||
| RenaultOEM | Renault Q3 revenue | ||
| VolkswagenOEM | VW Group nine-month results | ||
| KiaOEM | Kia Q3 | ||
| LearTier-1 | Lear Q3 | ||
| AptivTier-1 | Aptiv Q3 | ||
| BMWOEM | BMW Q3 |